Colostomy appliance



United States Patent [72] inventor John l-lenning Schiott Nielsen LilleVaerlose, Denmark [21] Appl. No. 711,606 [22] Filed March 8, 1968 [45]Patented Sept. 15, 1970 [73] Assignee Pharma-Plast A/S Lille Vaerlose,Denmark [32] Priority March 10, 1967 [33] Denmark [31] No. 1266/67 [54]COLOSTOMY APPLIANCE 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl. 128/283 A6lt5/44 [50] Field of Search 128/283 [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,039,464 6/ 1962 Galindo 128/2833,043,306 7/1962 l-lergatt et a1. 128/283 3,283,757 11/1966 Nelsen I128/283 FORElGN PATENTS 147,953 12/1936 Austria 128/283 PrimaryExaminerCharles F. Rosenbaum Attorney-Ernest F. Marmorek ABSTRACT: Acolostomy appliance comprising a connecting member and a detachable bagadapted to be connected to the connecting member. Said connecting memberhaving at one end a carrying flange attached to an adhesive flangeadapted to be attached to the body, and at the other end an outer lockflange. Between said carrying flange and said lock flange the connectingmember consists of an annular supporting member being outwardly taperedtowards the lock flange. The bag isprovided with an opening in the oneside, the edges of which opening being secured to an outer flange of aretaining ring, having an axially extending annular engaging flangeextending into the bag and being provided with a tapered inner sidehaving cross sectional dimensions corresponding to but slightly smallerthan the corresponding dimensions of the outside of the connectingmember, so that when the retaining ring is arranged on the connectingmember it squeezes around the same. Further the axial length of the saidinner side being slightly smaller than the axial length of said outerside, so that the retaining ring is easy to arrange on the connectingmember, but when arranged tends to slide towards the lock flange,whereby airtightness is ensured. The connecting member as well as theretaining ring being made from a relatively hard, but neverthelessresilient mouldable material, the ring preferably being somewhat moreresilient than the connecting member.

COLOSTOMY APPLIANCE This invention relates to appliances forpost-operative use following colostomy, ileostomy and the like surgicaltreatment. Without being limited to the use in connection with colostomyin the following such an appliance is designated colostomy appliance"and the invention is described and explained below for use followingcolostomy surgical treatment.

Especially the present invention relates to colostomy appliancescomprising an annular connecting member attached to an adhesive flangeadapted to be attached to the body surrounding the colostomy opening,and a detachable waste receiver or bag having an opening provided with aretaining ring attached to the bag and adapted to engage the saidconnecting member.

Colostomy appliances are known, comprising an annular connecting memberof metal or rubber adapted to be held in position on the body by meansof a belt and to which the bag may be attached. Such a colostomyappliance is easy to clean, since it may be entirely removed every timereplacement of the bag is required. The attachment of the bag to theconnecting member is inconvenient, however, and moreover, as aconsequence of the movements of the body, it is difficult to secureairtightness between the connecting member and the body.

Colostomy appliances are also known, the connecting member of which isattached to the body surrounding the colostomy opening by means of anadhesive and is provided with an external circumferential groove,whereas'the inlet opening of the bag is provided with a casing for astring or rubber band by means of which the edge of the inlet openingcan be brought tightly to engage the groove'of the connecting member.Provided the string is tightened sufficiently, such a colostomyappliance renders it possible to attain airtightness, on the other handit may involve difficulty to release the bag and to keep the protuberantrim of the connecting member clean.

The object of the invention is to provide a colostomy appliance thatpermits replacement of the bag in a quick and convenient manner, and sothat absolute airtightness be established automatically immediately thebag is in place, at the same time as convenient cleaning of theconnecting member is secured.

This is attained according to the invention, in that the annularconnecting member, being made of a relatively hard and neverthelessresilient mouldable material, comprises a radially extending carryingflange airtight secured to the adhesive flange, and an annularsupporting member protruding axially from the carrying flange, andhaving an outside tapered away from the flange, and at the outer edge ofthe supporting member an external, radially extending lock flange, andin that the retaining ring likewise made of a relatively hard andnevertheless resilient mouldable material, comprises a radial connectingflange, by which the ring is airtight secured to the bag surrounding theopening thereof, and an axially extending annular engaging flangestretching into the bag and having an inside conform to the outside ofthe supporting member and so dimensioned that when engaging thesupporting member it squeezes around the same, the axial length of theengaging flange, measured from the outside of the part of the connectingflange next to the opening thereof and to the inner edge of the engagingflange being slightly smaller than the minor axial distance between theoutside of the carrying flange of the connecting member and the lockingflange.

It appears that such a retaining ring can be quickly and securely pushedover and inside the lock flange of the connecting member, due to theresilience of the materials used.

After the retaining ring has been thus pushed into position, its

engaging flange will tightly surround the supporting member, and owingto the engaging flange having inside dimensions slightly smaller thanthe outside dimensions of the supporting member, the engaging flangewill automatically tend to move outwards on the supporting member, untilits edge engages the inner face of the lock flange on the supportingmember. In this manner completely airtight connection is establishedbetween the connecting member and the retaining ring and the latter issimultaneously securely attached to the connecting member.

On the other hand, when replacement of the bag is required, it

is easy to strip off the retaining ring from the connecting member asfor this operation it is only required to exert an outwards pull at apoint of the circumference of the retaining ring, which pull can not beproduced by the bag proper, not even through very vigorous movements bythe user.

To facilitate positioning and removal of the retaining ring, this ringmay be made of a mouldable material somewhat more resilient than thematerial used for the connecting member, whereby it is ensured that,during positioning and removal of the bag, mainly the members of theretaining ring will give way, so that it is avoided that the connectingmember, generally used over a relatively long period of time is exposedto any permanent deformation.

The inner surface of the lock flange, facing the adhesive flange oughtto form an angle not exceeding with the axis of the connecting memberand should preferably be undercut, whereby the locking effect of thelock flange on the engaging flange of the retaining ring is increasedwithout any difliculty in connection with removal or positioning of theretaining ring arises.

Other aspects, objects and the several advantages of this invention willbe apparent from a study of this disclosure, the accompanying drawingsand the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a connecting member constitutinga part of a colostomy appliance according to an embodiment of theinvention,

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a colostomy bag provided with aretaining ring according to an embodiment of the invention and FIG. 3 isa fragmental sectional view of the retaining ring shown in FIG. 2positioned on the connecting member show in FIG. 1. r

10 indicates the upper part of a colostomy bag provided with an opening12 enclosing a retaining ring 14 of a relatively hard and neverthelessresilient mouldable material, for example a medium hard syntheticplastics material such as a polyvinyl chloride.

16 indicates a for example square or circular adhesive flange of arelatively thin and flexible material, for example a synthetic plasticsmaterial. This flange 16 has a central opening 18 and, on the back, anadhesive coating, by means of which it can be attached to the skin of abody in such a manner that the opening 18 encloses the colostomyopening.

On the front side of the adhesive flange 16 a connecting member 20 isarranged enclosing the opening 18. The connecting member 20 is at itsend facing the adhesive flange 16 provided with an outwardly extendingcarrying flange 22 secured to the adhesive flange 16 by welding or inanother airtight manner.

The connecting member 20 comprises a tapered annula supporting member 24protruding from the carrying flange 22. The outside of this member shallbe tapered in any case, whereas it is not strictly necessary that theinside thereof has the same taper as the outside. Thus the supportingmember 24 may be thinner at the front edge than at the rear edge, andits inside may be cylindrical.

The supporting member 24 is provided at its front edge with a radialextending lock flange 26 preferably having a rounded forwardly facingouter edge 28. The side face 30 of the locking flange 26 facing thecarrying flange 22, may either be arranged in a plane at right angles tothe axis of the connecting member 20 or, more conveniently, as shown, ona conical surface forming an acute angle with the axis of the connectingmember 20 and having its apex in front of the said member, in such amanner that the inside 30, having a sharp angular transition 32 to theoutside of the connecting member24, is undercut.

The retaining ring 14 of the bag 10 is provided with a radiallyextending connecting flange 34, which by welding or in another airtightmanner is secured to the outside of the bag 10. From the connectingflange 34 an axially extending engaging flange 36 is stretching into thebag 10, which flange is, in any case on its inside 38, tapered with thesame conicity as the outside of the supporting member 24 of theconnecting member 20 and having slightly smaller sectional dimensionsthan the said outside, so that the engaging flange 36, when positionedon the connecting member 24 surrounding the same as shown in FIG. 3 fitstightly thereon.

The engaging flange 36 has a free end-portion 40 which is relativelyshort in the axial direction, and which is cylindrical on the inside.The end-face 42 of the end portion 40 is located on a conical surface, 1inclined outward and rearward, towards the connecting flange 34, and hasa slightly rounded transition to the inside of the end portion.

When the bag is to be positioned on the annular connecting member 20,which is preferably made of a mouldable material somewhat harder thanthe one used for the retaining ring 14, for example a hard polyvinylplastics, or a hard polypropylene plastics, for example the lower partof the retaining ring 14, is first pushed over and inside of the lockflange 26 of the connecting member 20, until the end portion 40 isbrought into position behind the lock flange 26. This pushing intoposition involves no difficulty, owing thereto that the axial length ofthe engaging flange 36, measured from the outside of the connectingflange 34 to the extreme edge of the end portion 40, is slightly, andonly slightly, smaller than the axial distance between the carryingflange 22 of the connecting member 20 and the outer edge of the inside30 of the lock flange 26. When a steadily progressing pressure isexerted along the remaining circumference of the edge of the end portion40, the pressure being applied through the bag 10, the final positioningof the retaining ring 14 in its entirety behind the lock flange 26, willinvolve no difficulty owing to the resilience of the materials used.Immediately after having been pressed into position, the retaining ring14 will be located with the outer side of its connecting flange 34closely up to the carrying flange 22 of the connecting member 20 but, asa consequence of the squeezing effect of the engaging flange 36 on theannular supporting member 24, the engaging flange 36 of the retainingring 14 will by itself move slightly outwards along the outside of theannular member 24 until the end portion 40 is in close contact with thelock flange 26. Due to the narrow contact zone of the said end portion40, owing to its conical shape, it will exert a relatively high surfacepressure on the lock flange 26, whereby the airtightness already securedby the tight fit of the engaging flange around the connecting member 24will be further ensured, and at the same time a small annular interspaceis provided between the rounded inner edge of the end portion 40 and thebottom of the sharp angular transition 32, whereby a kind of labyrinthsealing develops. In this manner the tightness has become so effectivethat, even in the case of a relatively high overpressure developing inthe bag 10, and even in the case of the ventvalve 44 of the bag, closedwith an odour filter, being so clogged that it permits no relief of theoverpressure this way,-

no air, and consequently no foul air, can escape between the two members14 and 20.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown, and variouschanges and modifications may be made within the scope of the inventionas defined in the appended claims. Thus the lock flange 26 of theannular connecting member 20 may have a slight outward inclination onthe inside, although this might involve a reduced safety in respect ofthe attachment of the bag if the user moves very vigorously. Further theengaging flange of the retaining ring 14 may be conical along its entireinner side.

It should be noted that the retaining ring 14 and, in turn, the bag 10can easily be manually removed from the annular connecting member 20 bypulling, in the first instance, a part of the retaining ring out overthe lock flange 26, and thereafter the entire retaining ring can easilybe pulled off. It will also be seen from the drawing that the retainingringlprotects the connecting member from being fouled, and t at thelatter can easily be cleaned even if the adhesive flange 16 remainsaffixed to the body of a user.

I claim:

1. A colostomy appliance comprising an annular connecting memberattached to an adhesive flange adapted to be attached to the bodysurrounding the colostomy opening, and a detachable bag having anopening provided with a retaining ring attached to the bag and adaptedto engage the said connecting member, said connecting member, being madeof a relatively hard and nevertheless resilient mouldable material andcomprising a radially extending carrying flange airtight secured to saidadhesive flange, an annular supporting member protruding axially fromsaid carrying flange and hav ing an outside tapered away from saidcarrying flange, and at the outer end of said supporting member anexternal, radially extending lock flange, said retaining ring likewisebeing made of a relatively hard and nevertheless resilient mouldablematerial and comprising a radially extending connecting flange airtightsecured to the bag surrounding the opening thereof, and an axiallyextending annular engaging flange stretching into the bag and having aninside conform to the outside of said supporting member and sodimensioned that when engaging said supporting member it squeezes aroundthe same, said engaging flange having an axial length measured from theoutside of the part of said connecting flange next to said opening ofsaid bag and to the inner edge of said engaging flange, slightly smallerthan the minor axial distance between the outside of said carryingflange of said connecting member and said lock flange.

2. A colostomy appliance according to claim 1, said retaining ring beingmade of a mouldable material more resilient than that used for saidconnecting member.

3. A colostomy appliance according to claim 1, the side face of saidlock flange facing said carrying flange forming an angle with the axisof said connecting member that does not exceed 4. A colostomy applianceaccording to claim 1, said engaging flange being provided at its freeend with a short end portion having an inside of a more axialorientation than the inside of the remaining part of said engagingflange.

5. A colostomy appliance according to claim 4, said end portion beingprovided with a rounded inner edge.

6. A colostomy appliance according to claim 4, the end face of said endportion having an outward and rearward inclination towards saidconnecting flange.

